London Olympics Disrupting a Good Night’s Sleep For Millions!

So if you’re a Londoner, or from anywhere else in Europe, you can still sleep relatively well as the times you attend events or watch your team contend in their sports events is in line with your day and your body clock. However the situation is not so easy for millions of other viewers watching from all over the world. Take for example if you are watching from America! East coast timers will have to wake up at 4am, while west coasters will be burning the midnight oil!! Not so good for your REM sleep cycle. The best thing to do to really enjoy the Olympics, support your team and not damage your sleep cycle too much is TiVo !! Record what you really want to watch and make time for it in your ordinary day! If you really want to watch it LIVE, then don’t load up on caffeine to do so, otherwise you could be feeling the effects days after the Olympics have been and gone! By BuyOrganics - Organic Mattress Guide to Healthy Sleeping

The Best Eco Friendly Pillows for Greener, Healthier Sleep

Most people spend their nights resting their heads on a combination of cotton, polyester fill, and petrochemical based memory foam or down feathers. Although you may think you’re being natural if you use cotton or down feather pillow, there are much better eco-friendly pillow options that are natural and actually good for you and the planet. Ordinary cotton is one of the worst offenders, using a multitude of pesticide, herbicides and water in excess in order to grow. Most people think that polyester is a safe fabric, even though it’s not natural. This is not true. Polyester is a petroleum-based, non-renewable resource, It’s production is very energy intensive, using 63% more energy than the production of cotton. The main toxic chemical in polyester is ethylene glycol, this gets absorbed by our bodies through inhalation and our skin. It can damage your kidneys and central nervous system – most definitely not the best thing for a rejuvenating sleep! Down feather pillows maybe natural but are one of the worst fillings to harbour dust mites in abundance, the fillings stay warm and moist so are equivalent to dust mite heaven! Most down and feather pillows can’t be opened for the fillings to be cleaned. The other latest invention is polyurethane foam based memory foam pillows, these release VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds ) into the air whilst you sleep. The main bi-products of polyurethane foam production are benzene and formaldehyde, hardly healthy for workers or the planet. To begin with the most eco-friendly pillows are organic pillows, because all the fibres and fillings are either wild grown, or grown without using pesticides or herbicides and nasty chemicals. With an organic pillow you can be assured that the top cover on which you rest your head, is made of organic cotton, not regular eco unfriendly cotton! 1. Kapok Pillows – Kapok Pillows are very popular and is great eco-friendly alternative to poly fill pillows. Kapok is wild grown and comes from the seed pods of the kapok tree, it is an entirely renewable vegetable based fibre and as the tree is pest free, pesticides are not needed in the growth of this wonder fabric. It’s soft and lofty producing really comfy pillows which are hypoallergenic, water and mould resistant and quick drying. 2. Grain Pillows – Grain pillows such as Spelt, Millet and Buckwheat have been used for centuries to create pillows that have healthy and beneficial effects for mind body and soul due to the high level of Silica in the grain. The grains move freely allowing perfect cushioning of the head and neck. They are hypoallergenic and easy to clean. The only thing that might take some getting used to is the crunchy feel and the rustling sound when you move. 3. Natural Latex Pillows – Natural Latex comes from the milk of the rubber tree and if bought from a reputable source has no additives or chemicals added to it. Totally renewable, the tree starts to regenerate in an hour! Latex is the best fillings as it is bouncy, comfy and comes as little flakes in pillows which move around freely. They have antibacterial, antimicrobial properties and are dust mite resistant and biodegrade naturally 4. Organic Cotton Pillows – Organic cotton is much healthier for you and the planet than non- organic, , organic farming techniques are used and the cotton tends to be grown in high rainfall areas making it less water inefficient, but it’s not for everyone as a pillow stuffing because it flattens over time. Great for people who like flat pillows though! 5. Organic Wool Pillows – Wool is a fabulous filling for all bedding, and pillows are no exception. Wool has great insulating properties that keep you warm in the winter and cool in the summer. As a filling it is dust mite, mould and mildew repellent, It is naturally wicks away moisture and is also naturally fire repellent. Totally renewable, the sheep are raised organically and re grow their coat year after year. Once removed the coat is not treated with any toxic chemicals after. The added bonus with BuyOrganics organic pillows is that they are zipped allowing the filling to be removed for cleaning and the cover to be machine washed separately. You can even adjust the amount of filling to suit your needs!! None of our pillows have fire retardant chemicals on them or in the fillings and rely on wool as a natural fire retardant.

3 Ways To Protect Yourself from Toxins In Your Conventional Mattress

Although ideally everyone should invest in an organic mattress, It’s not always possible to replace a mattress, especially if it’s fairly new and you’ve invested a lot of money in it. However when you are conscious of chemical smells or the effect of chemical fire retardants, heavy metals, or petrochemical foams, sleeping can also become stressful! So here’s 3 easy ways you can cut down the toxic effects of a conventional mattress. 1. Air your mattress thoroughly, open windows and let the air circulate round the room daily. 2. Invest in an organic mattress pad/topper. At a fraction of the cost of a complete organic mattress, it will give you great comfort as well as separate you from your mattress. 3. Invest in an Organic Mattress Protector. Use this over your topper to prolong your toppers life and also add another layer between you and your mattress.

How To Choose The Right Organic Futon Online

So you’re interested in buying an organic futon, one made of totally natural organic fibres with no nasty toxic chemicals such as PBDE or HBDE fire retardants or heavy metals, and no synthetic foams such as petrochemical based foam fills, you’ve identified BuyOrganics as the online store that sells exactly what you’re looking for, but how do you choose the right comfort of organic futon for you? To help answer exactly this question BuyOrganics have a organic futon sample available of each type of organic futon for you to buy at a low cost and test out in the comfort of your own home. Whilst wool tends to make the firmest type of futon, cotton and kapok are the softest. Kapok is warmer than cotton. Coir in the middle of the vegetable fibres adds stability and firmness whilst Horsehair in the wool futon adds softness and a slight springiness. For extra comfort and cushion and for a western style futon, choose an additional layer of natural latex which will make sleeping super comfy. (Just a note though that all our futons have some organic wool in them under the top cover for fire retardancy purposes). We have put together the most ideal combinations of fillings for you to choose from. Once you’ve tried your sample at home and chosen the futon that you feel meets your needs, you can post back the samples for a refund and money off your final futon order. It’s as easy as that!

Organic Mattress and Futon Sale

Special Discount Codes launched at www.livingethically.co.uk Upto 15% off plus Upto £100 worth of special bonuses. For the full deal on money off organic mattresses and futons check out our Living Ethically Offer Page Organic mattresses and futons rarely come on sale in the UK, so don't wait, hurry and check out this offer now!!!

Olympics 2012 Organic Mattress Offers

In celebration of the London Olympics 2012, buyOrganics has some great offers in store on organic mattresses, organic futons, and organic baby mattresses available for a ltd time only. This is the best time ever to invest in a healthy bedroom and a healthy nights sleep!! Check out our special offers for this momentous occasion right now!

10 Tips to Keep Your Bedroom in Optimal Condition

We spend approximately a third of our lives in our bedrooms, some even more than this so it’s not surprising that the state of this most precious space has a significant impact on your life. Your bedroom should be healthy, green as in environmentally so, and psychologically beneficial to your life. So we’ve put together a few pointers on how to really achieve a healthy bedroom. 1. Check for mould. Any dampness on the walls, windows or floors can lead to mould, even slight growth of different fungi that can trigger allergies such as wheezing, sneezing, eye complaints etc. Clean up any mould areas using a powerful cleaner such as bleach and ensure that the cause of dampness is removed. You may need to invest in a dehumidifier. 2. Get rid of dust mites. Mostly every bedroom has dust mites if you haven’t taken precautions to keep them out. Dust mites excrete a protein in their faeces that can trigger allergies such as sneezing and a runny nose, so it’s not very nice. In addition to this, the starling truth is that over a period of ten years your mattress will double in weight due to dust mite faeces, so you are literally just sleeping in bug poo! The ideal solution is to use hypoallergenic encasements on your mattresses. Natural solutions such as an organic wool mattress under sheet and over sheet are a good choice. Alternatively, you can use an organic cotton one that can be washed weekly on a 60 degrees wash. Wool naturally keeps dust mites out due to its high lanolin content, you can then air the wool in the sun to clean naturally, and washing cotton at 60 degrees kills dust mites also. Wash sheets weekly at 60 degrees and keep humidity low in rooms even through the winter. Use a HEPA filter hoover and clean with microfiber cloths that trap dust instead of launching it into the air. Keep humidity low in your bed, by folding the covers back every morning and leaving your bed to air. 3. Get Rid Of Light At Night. According to Samuel L. Krachman, D.O., director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. "Light interferes with the production of Melatonin, (a hormone that controls your sleep wake cycle and is secreted at night in response to darkness), therefore making it harder to fall into a deep, restful sleep." Two new studies suggest that exposure to light at night could affect not only your snooze quality but also your blood pressure, glucose levels, ability to regulate body temperature -- even cancer risk. 4. Reduce Sleep Disruptions. It’s not always possible to do this if you have to frequently get up to go to the loo, see to young children or have a snoring partner! Help snoring partners by encouraging them to get a special mouth guard from the dentist, this keeps their jaw aligned as they sleep thereby reducing snoring. Keep toilet visits brief and quick, try not to turn on lights but use night lights in the bathroom to keep you still in a restful state. 5. De Clutter. Things that don’t belong in the bedroom are things like cell phones and laptops. The rest of it is personal and certain things will trigger stress responses in you. I can deal with a little mess, but not a lot, my husband can’t deal with anything that’s not neatly folded or stacked nicely! 6. Get Rid Of Toxic Bedding. Memory Foam pillows and mattresses are the worst offender as they are made of a petroleum-based synthetic foam which can emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can cause headaches, nausea, eye and throat irritation and may even contribute to asthma. A better choice would be natural latex pillows and mattresses made from rubber trees also sometimes known as organic mattresses 7. Cut Your Exposure to EMF’s. Or otherwise known as Electromagnetic Fields! Avoid metal in your bed or mattress and move TV’s cordless phone bases, mobile phones, electric alarm clocks etc. out of your room. Some studies have linked EMF exposure to cancer. 8. Change the mood of your bedroom. If you’re a couple, then loose family pictures from the bedside table and replace with pictures of you as a couple. Switch cosy night clothes for sexier ones, and ensure you have locks on the door if you have kids. Dimmable lights and Soy candles which are VOC free in a safe place are all good ideas to re-light the passion! 9. Shoes Belong Outside. Don’t bring shoes in your bedroom; leave them in the porch as they carry germs and bacteria. 10. Loose The Decorative Pillows. Decorative pillows and soft toys can harbour dust mites, so go for a simple look instead. Otherwise air and wash them regularly at high temperatures. (Original article featured in the huffington post)